Abstract

In this article I situate studies of household technologies within the overall context of technological studies, in particular in relation to time and the significance of the labour of women in the home. I then discuss the classic studies of household technologies. This perspective was developed mainly in the USA in the 1970s and 1980s. It emphasizes the conservative power of technologies, asserting that they have had no positive impact on housework and home life. I then look at a second emerging perspective of studies of household technologies which shows a model in transition, indicating new patterns of living in families are emerging and that the work of women and men is shifting households and their technologies towards new ways of organizing domestic everyday life. Finally, I explore the connections between these new ways of living and the need for further research in understanding contemporary domestic living with technologies.